Dubai’s 10 top ways to be like James Bond

Get the watch, get the motor, get active, and be like James Bond

By
Will Milner
13 October 2015

10 Get the lookWhether you prefer the ivory dinner jacket seen in Goldfinger and the upcoming Spectre or the more common sharp suit, the best approach is to get yours tailored. Track down a tailor such as Bespoke to get yours made to measure.

9 Get the watchThey might not be equipped with lasers, electromagnets and tracking devices, but you can buy Bond’s watch in Dubai. Since 1995’s GoldenEye, 007 has worn an Omega. With such prime product placement it was inevitable that the replica watch would be available to deep-pocketed wannabes. The Seamaster Aqua Terra 150m is now available from the Omega store in The Dubai Mall and is essential to complete the look.

8 Get the motorYou never see 007 worrying about insurance, miles per gallon or the paint job of his car, which makes us think he doesn’t actually own or even pay for those he drives. Bond has had a few over the years, but the Aston Martin is most recognisably his. You could marvel at the showroom on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard, but we reckon you’re better off renting one instead.

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7 Get aroundThe standout moment from the Spectre trailer is Bond barrel rolling a helicopter through the middle of a city. While upside-down flight is not recommended, a helicopter flight never fails to get adrenalin pumping. Helicopter Tour Dubai offers flights from Atlantis The Palm to most of the city’s attractions.

6 Get highNot that Bond would be likely to stay in the helicopter for long. Whether it was Roger Moore’s Union Jack parachute leap from a mountain side in The Spy Who Loved Me or his mid-air fist fight in Moonraker, Bond has a habit of pulling parachute cords. And we refuse to believe anybody has ever made a Skydive Dubai plunge without humming a few bars of the James Bond theme tune.

5 Get activeThe Union Jack parachute came just after Bond had escaped multiple assailants on the slopes with some nifty footwork on his skis. A View to a Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, The World is Not Enough and, as that trailer bears witness, Spectre as well, James Bond can’t stay out of the snow. So if you’re going to follow in his footsteps then you will need to brush up skills at Ski Dubai.

4 Get gadgetsNo James Bond movie would be complete without a trip to Q to stock up on gadgets. He might have a personal jetpack, X-ray glasses and a taser phone, but we reckon there is nothing in his arsenal that compares to the Seabreacher. Accessing a supervillain’s secret lair is easier, after all, with your own private mechanical underwater submarine shaped like a shark. Have a go at Rixos The Palm.

3 Get on boardDo resurface long enough to get on deck of a high-spec boat. Besides the Aston Martin, this seems to be Bond’s favourite form of transport, and they fall into two categories: yachts for plotting and scheming in and speedboats for racing and shooting from. If it’s good enough for Bond then it should be good enough for you, too. Apart from the shooting, obviously. Don’t do that. Yachts and speedboats can be chartered from Xclusive Yachts.

2 Get sleuthingThe life of an international man of mystery is not all fast cars and glamour – once in a while you have to do some actual intelligence work. Put your brain to the test at Escape Quest for a challenge fit for Bond himself. Here, you’ll be locked in the lab of mysterious Romanian geneticist Dr. Zol and have to follow the clues to find his secret blood serum formula and escape before the secret police arrive. Don’t worry, it’s just a game, and like all escape challenge games, it’s loads of fun and mentally demanding.

1 Get outAfter a hard day of saving the world, James Bond likes nothing more than a couple of drinks, shaken, not stirred, and meeting some new friends. Half the nightspots in Dubai seem to be designed with Bond in mind, but we reckon he’d like Cave at Conrad Dubai. There’s something of a Bond villain’s lair about it, good drinks and a glam crowd.Written for Time Out Dubai by a regular contributor. His name is Milner, Will Milner.